HDB Void Decks
If you wonder why your foreign friends don’t get you when you say ‘void deck’, that is because our apartment blocks are the only housing in the world with an empty space below for recreational and community activities.
Hawker Centres for Social Gatherings
Hawker centres are also found in other neighbouring countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. However, we must be the only country with virtually one hawker centre in every neighbourhood. To us, hawker centres are places for social gathering of neighbours and even complete strangers, in particularly old uncles who would drink kopi while complaining about government policies, and drink beer while cursing football players.
Tissue Packet “Chope”
It is unknown exactly when and how this Singaporean method of seat reservation sprouted up, but Singaporeans and some adaptable foreigners have come to a silent agreement that if there is a packet of tissue paper on the table, the table has been reserved. It is actually a neat idea. By using a virtually worthless packet of tissue to reserve your seat, you can queue in peace without worrying about your belongings being stolen.
Singlish
Language purists may dismiss Singlish as uncouth and an embarrassment to the English language. Yet it is undeniable that to come up with a modified language and to have most natives understand and use it fluently within a short time span of decades is no mean feat and proves our creativity and ability to learn. Singlish has become a common tongue for Singaporeans of all races. Even foreigners are intrigued!
‘Uncle’s and ‘Aunty’s
To most other nations and cultures, uncles and aunties strictly refer to one’s parents’ siblings. In spite being complete strangers to the taxi driver or the market store holder, we call them ‘Uncle’ and ‘Aunty’ as a form of respect to people older than us. Oddly enough, you may sometimes see a store holder calling a customer of a similar or even younger age ‘Aunty’ or ‘Uncle’ as well!
The World’s Fastest Walkers
In 2007, a team of researchers from London conducted an observation exercise in 32 busy cities. They found a busy street in each city to observe people and time the pedestrians who were walking normally without hindrances. Singapore came out top of the list, ahead of hectic cities like Guangzhou, New York and Tokyo. Who says Singaporeans are not athletic?
No Chewing Gum!
The banning of chewing gum in Singapore is a law that brings amusement to foreigners. Yet looking at its origins, one can empathize with the necessity of the ban. When the MRT began operations in 1987, vandals stuck chewing gum on door sensors of MRT trains, resulting in disruption of train services. The culprits were difficult to apprehend, so a ban was put on chewing gum in 1992. The law was eventually revised in 2004 so that chewing gum could be brought in from overseas for non-commercial purposes.
The Thumbdrive
Singaporean company Track Technology, holds the patent to the thumbdrive in several countries, including Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Alongside IBM, Trek Technology had sold the first USB flash drives commercially in 2000. The flash drives were sold under the brand name “ThumbDrive”, which has now become a blanket term for all USB Flash Drives. The patent for the ThumbDrive is still disputed, but we undoubtedly have a stake in one of the best inventions in the world!
We make ‘em bigger and better!
We aren’t blessed with the tallest mountains or the deepest oceans, but that’s not stopping us from putting our tiny nation into the Guinness World Records. Cue the world’s largest bronze fountain (Fountain of Wealth), largest performance stage on water (The Float @ Marina Bay), tallest ferris wheel (Singapore Flyer), longest table (160m long dining table at Singapore Food Festival 2011)…
– Originally written for a lifestyle magazine
